West Coast dockworkers still talking after contract expires

Jul 5, 2022, 6:14 PM | Updated: Jul 6, 2022, 4:05 am

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A contract between shipping companies and 22,000 West Coast dockworkers expired over the weekend. But both sides continued to talk and said they want to avoid a strike that could savage an economy already stressed by soaring inflation and supply chain woes.

The contract that expired last Friday covered workers at ports from California to Washington state that handle nearly 40% of U.S. imports.

“While there will be no contract extension, cargo will keep moving, and normal operations will continue at the ports until an agreement can be reached,” said a joint statement from the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

The ILWU is the union representing Pacific dockworkers, and the Pacific Maritime Association is a trade group for cargo carriers and terminal operators. Its members include such global shipping giants as Maersk and Evergreen Marine.

The talks are so crucial that President Joe Biden even stepped in last month and met with both sides in Los Angeles. They are taking place against the backdrop of surging imports that left backlogs of ships anchored offshore, and declining exports.

Both sides said last month that they weren’t planning any work disruptions, but U.S. industries are clearly worried.

In a letter to Biden issued hours before the latest contract expired, about 150 trade groups ranging from truckers to agricultural, chemical and toy industries urged the administration to work with both parties to extend the current contract, negotiate in good faith and agree to avoid actions that further disrupt the ports.

The letter stressed that the groups are entering their peak season for imports as retailers stockpile goods for the fall holidays and back-to-school items.

“We continue to expect cargo flows to remain at all-time highs, putting further stress on the supply chain and increasing inflation,” the letter said. “Many expect these challenges to continue through the rest of the year.”

A major issue in the talks is automation of port facilities. The union argues that it will cost the jobs of crane operators and other workers, who can earn $100,000 or more per year. The Pacific Maritime Association argues that automation will actually will increase employment by enabling ports to move more cargo.

Ports already have been struggling to handle container traffic, much of it from Asia, where ports are heavily automated.

After the COVID-19 pandemic began to take hold in 2020, cargo traffic to ports slumped drastically. But then it recovered and has been booming since. Soaring demand has led to traffic jams at the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which in 2021 alone moved some 20 million cargo containers. The ports, collectively known as the San Pedro Bay port complex, alone handle more than 30% of waterborne containerized imports and exports in the U.S.

In January, some 100 ships were waiting to get into the port complex, but that total is now down to 60 or even as low as 20 at times, Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero said Tuesday.

Cargo is loaded and unloaded 16 hours a day, on average, Cordero said. However, the ports need to have a “24-7 mindset” to deal with Asian traffic, where ports operate around the clock, he said.

Contracts are renegotiated every six years, and Cordero said most have concluded without disruptions.

However, a lockout in 2002 and an eight-day strike in 2015 cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars and forced the administrations of then-presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to intervene.

Cordero said he hadn’t seen any work slowdowns at the port and was optimistic that the current negotiations would end with a fairly quick resolution.

“The world’s looking at us to make sure that were moving the cargo,” he said. “I think the administration has made it clear that they expect a reasonable … outcome.”

Unionized dockworkers also are seeking a raise and argue that shipping lines can afford it. With global demand, overseas freight shipping firms are seeing record profits.

Last month, Biden signed the Ocean Shipping Reform Act — meant to make shipping goods across oceans cheaper — and blasted the concentration of corporate shipping in the hands of nine foreign-owned companies.

“These carriers made $190 billion in profit in 2021, seven times higher than the year before,” Biden said. “The cost got passed on, as you might guess, directly to consumers, sticking it to American families and businesses because they could.”

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

(Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS...

Associated Press

9 injured in shooting near beach in Hollywood, Florida

Police are responding to a shooting near the beach broadwalk in Hollywood, Florida.

1 day ago

Crew members assemble the main stage ahead of the 2023 Scripps Nations Spelling Bee on Sunday, May ...

Associated Press

Exclusive secrets of the National Spelling Bee: Picking the words to identify a champion

As the final pre-competition meeting of the Scripps National Spelling Bee's word selection panel stretches into its seventh hour, the pronouncers no longer seem to care.

1 day ago

FILE - Gabby Petito's mother Nichole Schmidt, wipes a tear from her face during a news conference o...

Associated Press

Mother of man who killed Gabby Petito said in letter she would help son ‘dispose of a body’

The mother of the man who killed Gabby Petito told her son in an undated letter that she would “dispose of a body” if needed because she loved him so much, according to copies of the note shared publicly for the first time this week by attorneys for Petito's parents.

4 days ago

A member of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, also known as The Old Guard, places flags in front of e...

Associated Press

5 things to know about Memorial Day including its controversies

Memorial Day is supposed to be about mourning the nation’s fallen service members, but it’s come to anchor the unofficial start of summer and a long weekend of discounts on anything from mattresses to lawn mowers.

4 days ago

FILE - This artist sketch depicts the trial of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, left, as he test...

Associated Press

Officers describe chaos, fear on Jan. 6 as judge weighs prison time for Oath Keepers’ Rhodes

Police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and public servants who fled the mob's attack told a judge on Wednesday that they are still haunted by what they endured, as the judge prepares to hand down sentences in a landmark Capitol riot case.

5 days ago

Pride month merchandise is displayed at the front of a Target store in Hackensack, N.J., Wednesday,...

Associated Press

Target on the defensive after removing LGBTQ+-themed products

Target once distinguished itself as being boldly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.

6 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

5 mental health myths you didn’t know were made up

Helping individuals understand mental health diagnoses like obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder or generalized anxiety disorder isn’t always an easy undertaking. After all, our society tends to spread misconceptions about mental health like wildfire. This is why being mindful about how we talk about mental health is so important. We can either perpetuate misinformation about already […]

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

How to identify the symptoms of 3 common anxiety disorders

Living with an anxiety disorder can be debilitating and cause significant stress for those who suffer from the condition.

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...

Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.

West Coast dockworkers still talking after contract expires